Tray latching mechanism for high chairs



A. BENQIT QT AL TRAY LATCHING MECHANISM FOR HIGR CHAIRS May 12, 1970 Filed Nov. 1. 1967 .mr 0 5 W11 WW WEI N ABM R A W w 4 I. 03 MW 4 United States Patent 3,511,531 TRAY LATCHING MECHANISM FOR HIGH CHAIRS Roland A. Benoit, Fresh Meadows, and Joseph Tripodi, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignors to InterRoyal Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 679,825

Int. Cl. A47d 1/00 US. Cl. 297153 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A high chair with side arms formed of hollow tubing having holes in their lower surfaces. An adjustable tray has a pair of spring biased levers with upwardly extending fingers which are extended into the holes in the tubing.

This invention relates to a high chair for children and particularly to an improved means for adjustably fastening the tray section of the high chair to the side arms thereof.

The type of high chair with which this invention is concerned is one which is very widely used. In the chair of this kind a rectangular horizontal seat portion is supported at each corner by legs which may be attached directly to the seat portion or to a frame which in turn carries the seat portion. In another conventional method of construction, pairs of metal legs may actually form part of a support frame by their inverted U shape configuration in which cross bars serve as frame members supporting the seat structure.

A chair back is connected to the seat portion or frame thereof at the rear thereof, or a frame structure supporting the back is so connected, Horizontal side arms which extend forwardly of the seat back are fastened at the rear ends thereof to the back or may be formed integral with the frame which is shaped in such a manner that sections of it form such arms. An example of the latter is a frame structure comprising a pair of U shaped members vertically oriented with the bight portion generally perpendicular to the seat and adjacent to the seat back with the lower side of each forming part of the frame supporting the seat and the upper sides forming the arms of the high chair.

In each instance a tray section is removably and adjustably supported on the side arms.

As is familiar, such tray serves not only as a surface for serving the childs meals, play surface and the like, but in addition secures the child in the chair and thus prevents him from accidentally tumbling from the chair and being injured.

For these reasons it is essential that the tray be attached to the arms in a secure and reliable manner to insure against the child dislodging it, spilling food, breaking dishes, or worse, injuring himself.

Besides the essential requirement that the tray be secure, it is extremely important from the practical standpoint that it be easy to adjust longitudinally of the arms and also be completely removable. These features are important to allow the chair to adjust to the individual child over a growing period, to permit placing the child in the chair and removing him from it readily, as well as the proper cleansing of the tray which is necessary quite often with the average child using a high chair.

While some of these objectives have been accomplished by various prior art devices for securing the tray to the arms, they have often been extremely complex, expensive, highly susceptible to malfunction, and often inconvenient to operate.

The present invention overcomes these deficiences by 3,511,531 Patented May 12, 1970 tion in which the lower surface of the arms or tubings are' provided with holes, and each side of the lower surface of the tray outwardly of the arms being provided with a hand operated lever which is spring biased against the outer surface of the tubing forming each arm and has an upwardly directed finger at the inner end thereof which fits into the holes of the lower surface of the tubing.

The engagement of the levers in the holes forms a secure, but adjustable, fastening of tray to the arms. The tray may be conveniently repositioned or removed entirely by a slight, manually applied, pressure on the outer hand gripped portion of the levers to overcome the biasing of the springs.

Additional advantages and features inherent in the present invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention which is meant to include any obvious equivalents thereof within the purview of those skilled in the art.

In the following description reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein like numbers refer to like parts throughout, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a high chair incorporating the improved latching mechanism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the tubings forming the arms of the chair with the tray in place thereon.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 33 of FIG. 5 showing in enlargement the latching mechanism with the arm-tubing in outline.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view, taken along line 44 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the tray section, with the arm-tubing shown partially in outline.

In FIG. 1 there is shown a high chair 2 having a seat portion 4 supported by four legs 6. In the embodiment illustrated, the legs 6 are attached directly to the seat portion 4, but it is apparent that they could carry a frame section to which in turn the seat would be attached. Likewise, a back 8 is shown attached directly to the rearward edge of the seat portion 4, but could likewise be con nected to a frame.

A pair of side arms 10 are attached to the outer section of the front surface of the back 8 and extend forwardly and generally parallel to the side edges of the seat por tion 4.

' provided with holes.

The latching mechanism 16 for one side of the tray is shown in greater detail in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

The lower surface 18 of the tubing 12 has a plurality of holes 20a, b and c formed therein which runs longitudinally of the tubing.

While the drawing illustrates three such holes, there may, of course, be more or less depending upon the number of adjustments desired.

A shaft 22 is carried by a pair of generally L shaped support members 24. A pair of coiled springs 26 are carried on the shaft 22 and spaced longitudinally of each other by the lever 34. The end 30 of each spring terminating away from the lever 34 is biased against the underside of the tray 14, and conversely the terminal por tion 32 of each spring is turned generally perpendicular to the plane of the coil and biased against the under surface of the lever 34.

The lever 34 has an upper horizontal segment 36 which is held against the shaft 22 by the force of springs 26 acting through the terminal portions 32 of the springs. A diagonally depending section 38 integral with outer portion of segment 36 forms, together with segment 36, a suitable gripping surface for the operation of the mechanism16 by hand. At the inner portion of segment 36 the lever .34 turns downward into a depending segment 40 which isapproximatelyperpendicular to segment 36. The interior of the angle formed by the juncture of segment 36 and segment 40 serves to retain the terminal portions 32 of the springs 26.

Segment 40 of the lever 34 generally parallels the outer side 42 of the tubing 12 and is of such length as to extend slightly below the lower surface 18 of the tubing 12 when the tray 14 is resting on the tubing 12. The lever 34 is then formed into a base segment 44 which joins the segment 40 at approximately a right angle and is of such length that a terminal upwardly projecting finger 46 fits into the hole 20:: in the undersurface 18 of the tubing 12.

As shown most clearly in FIG. 4, the L shaped support members are each fastened to the lower surface of the tray 14 by fastening means 48 which in the embodiment illustrated are screws. Any other conventional means such as rivets and the like may be employed.

A recess 50 in the depending part of each L shaped support members 24 retains the shaft 22 in place.

.The operation of the latch is simple and direct.

With the tray 14 in place on the tubings 12 the levers 34 are urged against the outer sides 42 and lower surfaces 18 of the tubings 12 by the springs 26. The fingers 46 of the levers 34 are positioned in a pair of the holes 20a of the tubings 12. The tray 14 is thus positively locked against any lateral movement.

The firm contact of the upper surface of base segment 44 of the lever 34 with the lower surface 18 of the tubing 12 serves to prevent the tray from sliding forward or backward on the tubings once placed in the desired position.

To adjust the position of the tray 14 on the arms 10, one merely has to press up on the levers 34 at the sections 38, overcoming the spring tension, and moving the levers 3-4 out of contact with the tubings 12, and slide the tray 14 to the desired position, or slide it entirely 011 if necessary.

While the invention has been explained by a detailed description of certain specific embodiments, it is understood that various modifications and substitutions can be made in any of them within the scope of the appended claim which is intended also to include equivalents of such embodiments.

What is claimed is: i

1. In a high chair comprising a rectangular horizontal seat portion, legs supporting said seat portion, a seat back extending upwardly from the rear of said seat portion, a pair of fixed side arms spaced above the side edges of said seat portion and parallel thereto, said side arms being :fixedly mounted on said seat back and extending outwardly therefrom in a generally perpendicular direction to form a cantilever support, a tray supported on top of said pair of side arms, and including the combination wherein said side arms are hollow, the lower surface of each arm has a hole therein, said tray is adjustably and removably secured to said arms by means of a pair of latches said latches being pivotally mounted on said tray with said latches movable to a position away from said side arms to allow said tray to be lifted from said side arms, each of said latches being positioned on the lower surface of said tray inwardly of, but adjacent to the respective side edges of said tray, and outwardly of said arms, each of said latches comprising a shaft which is oriented parallel to said arm, spaced vertically from said tray and supported at each end by support means fastened to said tray, a pair of coiled springs carried axially on said shaft, a lever positioned intermediate of said springs below said shaft and spacing said springs longitudinally of each other on said shaft, the end segment of each spring away from said lever being extended away from said arm and from the coil of the spring at a point above said shaft and is of a length sufficient to engage the lower surface of said tray, the terminal segment of each spring adjacent said lever being turned perpendicular to the plane of the coil of the spring and parallel to said shaft thereby forming, in cooperation with the other spring, a biased support for said lever, said lever comprising, integrally, an end segment extending outwardly of said shaft, a horizontal portion inward of said end segment in tangential contact with the lower surface of said shaft a segment depending from said horizontal portion and adjacent the outer side of said arm and extending below the lower outer surface of said arm, a lower horizontal base segment running inwardly from said depending portion and terminating in an upwardly projecting finger adapted to normally extend into said hole in said arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,003,245 9/ 1911 Emmons 297-153 2,024,667 12/ 1935 Stinson 297149 2,529,687 11/ 1950 Greenbaum 297l49 X 2,532,556 12/1950' Keough 297--l50 2,919,748 1/ 1960 Alden 297-l53 3,383,314- 5/1968 Webb et al. 297-153 JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner 

